The present invention relates to a device for connection between a general traction cable and a bicycle, particularly applicable to ski-lifts, for hauling uphill bicycles or like machines, and in particular bicycles used for cross-country or off-the-highway cycling, outside the winter season.
Cross-country and off-the-highway cycling are sports which are developing at present to a considerable extent, and it is particularly attractive to practice them in mountainous regions, due to the sportive possibilities offered for descents on a cycle and the beauty and variety of the landscape when riding. However, when practicing cross-country cycling on steep ground, it is necessary, after every descent, to climb back up again and this can only be done on foot, pushing the bicycle. Similarly, off-the-highway cycling implies long climbs, which are exhausting for the cyclists. Now, ski-lifts exist in many places, which are generally unused in summer.
It may therefore be envisaged to take advantage of the existence of these ski-lifts, to haul up bicycles during the periods when there is no snow and to enable downhill cross-country cycling to be practiced under the most pleasant conditions possible. However, the traction of bicycles presents two important differences from the traction of the other objects usually hauled by ski-lifts:
The cyclist is completely independent and he may pass from one ski-lift to another during his rides, and in many cases he is owner of his cycle. PA1 In the course of traction, the cyclist must steer his machine, taking into account the bumps inflicted thereon by the unequal surface of the slope, and the sudden variations in the efforts of traction that it induces. PA1 Ensure reliability of the connection despite the bumps and sudden variations in the tractional forces. PA1 Allow disconnection via that part of the device fixed to the cycle, functioning either on the cyclist's initiative or in an automatic safety mode. PA1 Ensure automatic safety disconnection via that part of the device joined to the cable of the ski-lift, which alone remains under the permanent control of the ski-lift operator, thus guaranteeing its operational reliability. PA1 either do not offer a sufficient guarantee of a reliable connection when bumps are inflicted on the machine by the rough surface of the track and when there are sudden variations in the tractional forces that this induces, which is the case of the devices described in the Patents DE-A-1 913 373, DE-A-2 334 308 and FR-A-2 005 456; PA1 or do not allow disconnection via that part of the device fixed to the machine (Pat. Nos. DE-A-2 334 308, FR-A-2 005 456, U.S. Pat. No. 3,942,452); PA1 or do not allow automatic safety disconnection via that part of the device connected to the cable of the ski-lift (Pat. No. DE-A-1 913 373).
The device for connecting a bicycle to the traction cable of the ski-lift must therefore satisfy three conditions. The device should:
None of the existing devices for hauling machines by a ski-lift satisfies these three conditions. More specifically, existing hauling machines: